Talking to one of my friends, it came up in the conversation that we'd both been to physios and been given loads of exercises. That might sound like a good thing, but it's actually unrealistic for most people: Most people are out of the habit of doing any exercise, let alone loads of them. My take on it, is to pick a couple off the list and work on those - otherwise having so many exercises is daunting and people will probably drop the lot.

With tai chi, it's a way into exercise for those of us who weren't sporty at school. Personally, I was half the size of everyone else, had feet problems and was klutzy. At that time, team sports were the norm every lesson. And every lesson I wouldn't be picked, I'd be made to get changed and then sit on the sidelines watching everyone else play. For years on end, that was my experience of school sport. It didn't make me enthused about doing exercises...

With tai chi, you don't have to have natural talent, be sporty, or otherwise be in the habit of doing loads of exercises. Tai chi starts from where you're at, and gradually takes you on from there, so it's a way into exercise that people can try out, without being daunted by huge demands of sudden sportiness. Tai chi is a realistic way forward for people who don't normally do any exercise, rather than be handed a long list that's going to be ignored.

What's really nice for me now is that after many years of tai chi training, I can heft around a sword like Errol Flynn! Which is the last thing I ever expected to be capable of after such an unpromising start to my own sporting experiences at school. Yay me!